A winning combination between caffeine and physical exercise, which would represent an important precautionary way to fight skin cancer. An American survey published on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences affirm it, where researchers of the Rutgers University in Florida exposed mice to UVB rays that damage the skin and are considered precursors of cancer. Thus, scientists suppose that there is some kind of synergy between sports and caffeine, helping to eliminate precancerous cells massively. Such discovery could turn useful even for other kinds of tumours, as doctor Yao Pin Lu explains. He conducted the research and we interviewed him.
What is the genesis of such discovery?
Earlier studies in our laboratories showed an inhibitory effect of oral administration of drinks including caffeine on the formation of UVB-induced non-malignant and malignant skin tumours in SKH-1 hairless mice. We found that caffeine drinks were more effective than the decaffeinated ones.
How does caffeine act on diseased cells?
Caffeine can inhibit forms of melanomas by enhancing apoptosis selectively in DNA-damaged cells or in tumours, but not in normal cells. We recently found that caffeine, which contributed to protect from skin cancer, may be also connected with decreasing tissue fat and therefore reduction of cytokine levels associated with inflammation.
What is the current status of your research?
We found that mice were exposed to UVB light for twenty weeks (high risk mice); those who got caffeine (equal to about 1-3 cups of coffee for an adult) together with physical exercise for 14 weeks developed 62% fewer tumours than mice that didn’t take caffeine or do physical exercise. Our work demonstrated that topical applications of caffeine or caffeine sodium benzoate either before or after exposure to sunlight inhibit skin cancer in mice.
So caffeine could become an ideal sunscreen?
We are starting clinical trials that can confirm the effectiveness and safety of topical applications of caffeine or together with conventional suntan creams. If results prove us right, as we believe, coffee would reduce skin tumours during tan, and could become an ideal suntan ally.
Recommended song for the reading of the present article: Brown skin girl – Harry Belafonte
